Election, budget expected to dominate Oceanside in 2004

ROB O'DELL - Staff Writer

OCEANSIDE -- Perennial issues such as the budget and downtown
redevelopment face Oceanside in 2004, but the elephant in the room
is the 2004 election.

Two council seats and the mayor's office are up for grabs Nov.
2, and it is already shaping up to be a battle for control of the
city. To add to the political intrigue, it is possible that all
five sitting council members could be running for office at
once.

Council members Esther Sanchez and Jack Feller have said they
will seek re-election to the seats they won in 2000. Two other
candidates -- businessman John Hoffman and entertainer and former
Oceanside policeman C.C. Sanders -- have also announced their
intentions to run for the two council posts.

Incumbent Mayor Terry Johnson could have two familiar faces from
the City Council challenging him in November. Although neither has
made it official, Councilmen Rocky Chavez and Jim Wood have been
widely talked about as potential mayoral candidates.

Many people around town expect one or both to enter the 2004
race. Another likely candidate is local businessman Jim Schroder
who has said he is "pretty well committed to running" for the
mayor's job.

Although Chavez and Sanchez downplayed the effect the election
would have on the business of the city, Feller said he expects
considerable "politicking and grandstanding on the dais."

"Five seated council members running for election at the same
time is not in the best interests of Oceanside," Feller said. "It
think it's almost a mockery of the system."

Wood also said the election would have a huge part in shaping
how next year will play out on council.

"I don't think in the history of Oceanside we have ever had five
people (council members) running at the same time," Wood said. "The
election is going to be important, no doubt about it."

Budget woes likely

Other than the election, the city's budget ills was the No. 1
issue cited by council members and city officials in recent
interviews.

City Manager Steve Jepsen said in late December that the city
could face a shortfall of between $4 million and $6.5 million for
fiscal year 2004-05, which begins July 1. The potential shortfall
comes from Oceanside's $1.5 million to $2 million increase for the
Public Employees Retirement System, and the possible $4.2 million
hole from the reduction in next year's car tax revenue.

Jepsen said the first few weeks of January will determine what
kind of year Oceanside will have in 2004. Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger is expected to unveil his preliminary budget for
next fiscal year Jan. 10, and Jepsen said that will give the city
an idea of how good or bad a position its budget is in.

"In the midst of the state taking money away, are we going to
have the money to pay for everything?" Jepsen said was the question
for next year.

Feller said the city will have a tough balancing act when it is
forced to decide what to cut. But Feller said he favored cutting
some social services instead of public safety.

"Nothing is more worthwhile than public safety," he said.
Sanchez and Johnson echoed Feller's comments.

Councilman Rocky Chavez said recently that the city needs to
find out which of its services are mandated by law and which
programs could get cut in a pinch.

"I think we're going to have to make some cuts," Chavez said.
"We're running out of money."

Redevelopment, El Corazon, affordable
housing

What do to do with the city's downtown redevelopment area, the
discussion for the future uses of the 445-acre El Corazon property
in central Oceanside, and how to best provide affordable housing in
the city were also cited as big issues by city officials for next
year.

The city will take a crack at redevelopment priorities in a
workshop Tuesday. After taking out its fourth and final bond issue
on the redevelopment area in October, the city has about $14
million that it needs to spend downtown by 2006, under the terms of
the bond issue.

After creating a plan on how to spend the redevelopment money,
the city will also soon put out bids for a new resort hotel
downtown for a two block area bounded by Pier View Way, Pacific
Street, Myers Street, and Seagaze Drive.

Johnson said it's critical to get projects downtown that will
increase the city's revenue and improve its future bottom line. He
cited as an example the recently approved beachfront resort by
developer Jim Watkins that calls for 132 timeshares, 32 hotel
rooms, a restaurant and retail shops. It is expected to bring the
city $1 million a year in property, sales and hotel taxes once it
is up and running.

The council is expected to receive a report from a 15-member
committee formed in June to create a plan for the property. The
committee was formed after a contentious ballot initiative calling
for nearly all the land to remain parkland, which failed by less
than 100 votes.

The council also is expected hear a report from the city's
Affordable Housing Task Force charged with creating on plan on how
to best to provide affordable, or low-income, housing in the
city.

The task force has been asked to give a two-pronged approach to
building low-income housing in Oceanside. First, it should lay out
how the city should best spend by the end of June the estimated $26
million earmarked for low-income housing. Second, it should create
a new policy that gets the affordable houses built in the city
instead of simply collecting fees.

The City Council is expected to receive both the El Corazon and
affordable housing reports in early 2004.

The unexpected

City officials were also asked what could be new issues might
surface in 2004. The five council members and the city manager's
impromptu responses are listed below:

Rocky Chavez: A national security story affecting Oceanside or
a story coming out of Camp Pendleton.

Esther Sanchez: How the city and the school district will work
together if the state makes big cuts in education, especially if it
cuts after-school programs for children.

Jack Feller: How cities in the county work together for fire
protection. He said it would be a "bone of contention that will
overflow into what we do in Oceanside."

Jim Wood: How spiraling home prices affect the city's residents
and hamper their ability to keep living and working in the
city.

Terry Johnson: He said he didn't envision any significant
issues popping up next year, adding he expects 2004 to be
"predictable."

Steve Jepsen: The cooperation or lack thereof with other North
County cities to find a way to shelter the homeless in 2004, and
how the city will deal with the issue if a regional solution can't
be reached.